The funeral service for noted Portuguese architect Nuno Portas will take place today from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM at the auditorium of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Lisbon, as announced by Servilusa.
On Tuesday at noon, the funeral ceremonies will be followed by a procession to the cemetery in Vila Viçosa, the architect’s birthplace.
Nuno Portas, renowned for his contributions to housing and urban policies in Portugal and internationally, gained widespread recognition, particularly in Spain and Brazil.
Born Nuno Rodrigo Martins Portas on September 23, 1934, in São Bartolomeu, Vila Viçosa, Évora District, he was deeply passionate about both cinema and architecture from a young age.
With a diverse career, Portas balanced academic pursuits, theoretical production, civic engagement, and professional practice after graduating in architecture in 1959 from the Lisbon and Porto Schools of Fine Arts.
His professional journey began in 1957 at Nuno Teotónio Pereira’s studio in Lisbon, a figure Portas frequently admired.
Portas emerged as an influential cultural figure, becoming editor of the magazine Arquitectura, where he published award-winning articles, including the Gulbenkian Prize for Art Criticism in 1963.
He consistently advocated for citizens’ rights to decent housing and urban environments, reflected in his promotion of cooperative housing models and establishment of the Local Support Service (SAAL) during his tenure as Secretary of State for Housing and Urbanism in 1974.
“My political activity was always tied to my role as an architect,” Portas emphasized in an interview with RTP, highlighting the need for architects to address social inequalities and community needs, advocating for expanded knowledge in anthropology and sociology.
His teaching career began at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts, where he taught the Project course from 1965 to 1971. In 1983, he joined the faculty of the Porto School of Fine Arts, contributing to the foundation of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Porto, where he became a full professor in 1989.
Even as a retired professor, he maintained an intellectual presence in academia, notably structuring the first master’s program in Urban Environment Planning and Design.
Portas collaborated with the United Nations, the European Union, and Spanish architect Oriol Bohigas on projects such as Rio de Janeiro’s Waterfront Plan and Central Zone Recovery Plan. In Cape Verde, he contributed to urban planning legislation.
In politics, he was appointed Secretary of State for Housing and Urbanism after Portugal’s 1974 revolution, serving in the first three Provisional Governments. He led significant reforms in the sector, promoting housing cooperatives, the SAAL program, and establishing the foundations for current municipal master plans. In 1990, he served as urban planning councilor in Vila Nova de Gaia.
His accolades include the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique and the Sir Patrick Abercrombie Prize from the International Union of Architects.
Together with architect Nuno Teotónio Pereira, Portas received the 1975 Valmor Prize for the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church project in Lisbon.
